Car Crash
by walkingtallagainstherain
Summary: When Briggs and Charlie are in a car accident, the whole house comes together to try to help them heal, but it is too late?
1. Chapter 1

**First Graceland fic, kinda nervous about posting this! Sorry for the unimaginative title, but I couldn't come up with anything better that wasn't dripping was cheesy-ness. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Missed some killer waves out there dude, that was epic." Johnny said as he walked into Graceland, clothed only in a wet suit.

"Sorry I missed it, but this paperwork's not going to do itself." Mike said from the breakfast bar. Johnny just rolled his eyes, muttering something about how boring paperwork is as he made his way to the fridge.

"Wanna drink Mikey?" Johnny asked as he pulled out a bottle of water.

"Nah, I'm alright." Mike said, getting up and standing next to the counter when he heard his phone go off. He had left the charger downstairs overnight so it had died this morning. He hoped he hadn't missed any important calls.

"Shit." Mike said, looking at his phone.

"What's wrong?"

"I've got like 10 missed calls from Paige and loads of messages, something must have happened." Mike pressed the phone to his ear as he listened to Paige's messages.

_"Mike, I just got a call from Briggs, he and Charlie were in a car accident. Try not to worry I'm sure they're fine but I'm heading to the hospital. Call me back when you get this."_

_"It's me again, I'm at the hospital, Jakes is here. Briggs called from the ambulance. He's alright but he said Charlie's in a bad way. I think you should come up."_

_"And grab Johnny if you can find him, he's not answering his phone either but you'll probably check yours before he will."_

_"Where they hell are you? Please call me back."_

_"They just brought Charlie in...please please come to hospital when you get this. Saw Briggs and he looks okay but the doctor's checking him over. I'll call back if we hear anything before you respond or get to the hospital."_

All the colour drained out of Mike's face upon hearing Paige's messages. He could hear her voice crack when she was talking about Charlie, and he had never seen Paige cry, not even when he had been stabbed.

"Dude? Dude you okay?" Mike was snapped out of his thoughts by Johnny's shouting.

"Sorry, I..er...sorry. We need to go to the hospital."

"What's happened? Is Paige alright?"

"Paige is fine, but Charlie and Briggs were in a car accident. Briggs is okay. Charlie..." Mike ran a hand though his hair.

"How bad is she?"

"Bad. Like really bad. Listen." Mike replayed the message.

"Shit. Call Paige back, ask if she's heard anything. I'm gonna go get changed, but after you call Paige go get the jeep started." Johnny said, running up the stairs. Mike started scrolling through his contacts till he found Paige's number.

"Paige?"

_"Why has it taken you so long to answer your phone?! Have you found Johnny?"_

"Sorry, my phone died and I couldn't find my charger. Johnny was out surfing so didn't take his phone. Have you heard anything new?"

_"Nothing. I'm really scared."_

"It'll be alright. Charlie's a fighter."

_"Yeah. Are you on your way yet_?"

"Will be once Johnny's got changed. He thought the hospital wouldn't appreciate him coming in a wet suit." Mike heard Paige laugh but he knew it was forced.

_"Text me when you're nearly here, I'll wait outside the hospital."_

"Okay. Call if you hear anything else."

_"Will do. Bye."_

"Bye." Mike hung up as Johnny came running downstairs.

"Any news?"

"Nothing, but she said she'd call if she heard anything." Mike said, grabbing the car keys and running down the steps.

* * *

Paige sat in the waiting room of the hospital, twisting her scarf around her fingers. She couldn't believe this had happened. She didn't want to believe it. Jakes sat next to her, pretending to read a magazine but his eyes weren't moving across the paper. Mike sat next to Paige, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Johnny sat on the floor against the wall, silently playing with the cross around his neck.

"Excuse me, are you waiting for Catherine DeMarco, and Paul Briggs?" A doctor asked as he came into the room.

"Yeah, how are they?" Mike asked as they all crowed around the doctor.

"Mr. Briggs is fine, just minor cuts and bruises. We'd like to keep him in over night as he said he was feeling nauseous which could be a sign of a concussion. I'm sure that he will be well enough to be discharged in the morning provided there are no complications overnight."

"What about Charlie?" The doctor gave Mike a puzzled look.

"He means Catherine. Charlie's her nickname." Jakes explained.

"Miss DeMarco was admitted with serious head trauma so she's been sent for a CT scan to see the extent of the injury. We won't know anymore until then."

"Can we see either of them?" Paige asked.

"You can see Mr. Briggs, me or one of my colleagues will come and find you once we've got the results of Miss DeMarco's CT scan."

"Which room is he in?"

"Room 209 on the 2nd floor."

"Thank you." Mike said, following the others as they went to Briggs' room.

* * *

Briggs lay in the hospital bed, staring up at the ceiling. Every time he closed his eyes he could see Charlie's body laid on the stretcher in the back of the ambulance. She looked so fragile, and when the alarms started going off...

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Briggs was pulled out of his thoughts by Johnny, Paige, Mike and Jakes coming into the room.

"I'm fine, I don't see why they're keeping me in here. Have you heard anything about Charlie, is she awake?"

"She's still unconscious, they've taken for a CT scan, we don't know anything else." Paige said, sitting down next to Briggs' bed. He could tell she was really shaken up, so gave her a warm smile.

"How did it happen?" Mike asked from the foot of the bed.

"It's all kind of a blur. One minute we're driving, then all of a sudden this car just slams into the side of the truck."

"Charlie's side?"

"Yeah. If I hadn't asked her to drive she'd be okay."

"Paul, you can't think like that, don't you think if it was the other way around she would be saying the exact same thing." Paige said.

"Dude if it was the other way 'round, she'd be cursing your ass for passing out on her." Johnny joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"True." Before anything else could be said, a doctor came into the room.

"Sorry to interrupt, but are you waiting on news of Miss DeMarco?"

"Yes." All the agent's turned to look at the doctor.

"I'm Dr. Fletcher, I'm a consultant neurosurgeon. I'm afraid the CT scan shows a blot clot pressing on Miss DeMarco's brain. We're prepping her for surgery."

"But she's going to be alright, isn't she?" Briggs asked, trying not to panic.

"We're going to have to remove the blood clot, or she is going to die." Those last four words shocked everyone in the room.

"When will we know...?" Jakes asked.

"I'll come to inform you of any changes once the surgery is over. I'm sorry I'm going to have to go." The doctor left quickly once her pager went off. Silence settled over the room.

"She's going to be fine though, right? This is our Charlie we're talking about." Johnny said, refusing to think of the alternative.

No one could bring themselves to answer his question.

* * *

**Shoutout to **Allureofproductivity** for her help on this, go check out her work it's amazing! Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Oh my god I'm so sorry for the delay, but I've been trying to write a couple of chapters in advance so I can upload more regularly. I'll try and update at least every Monday, as I'll have the weekend for writing but if I don't update feel free to message me to hurry me along. Also, I couldn't remember the name of the boss guy from episode 1 (who then mysteriously disappeared...) so I've called there boss Agent Coulson because I'm not missing that opportunity. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_"She's going to be fine though, right? This is our Charlie we're talking about." Johnny said, refusing to think of the alternative._  
_No one could bring themselves to answer his question._

Briggs was awoken the next morning by someone gently shaking his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see Mike staring back at him.

"Sorry to wake you, but they said we could take you to see Charlie."

Briggs sat up. "Really? How is she?"

"Honestly? She looks pretty beat up."

"I guess she's not awake then."

"No, but they managed to remove the blood clot. Right now that's the main thing. Now, are you okay to walk or do you want to go in the wheelchair?"

"I have a concussion, not a broken leg, I can walk."

"Are you sure? I don't want you throwing up on me."

"I'm sure, c'mon what room's Charlie in?"

"She's in the ICU, I'll show you the way."

* * *

Briggs walked into Charlie's room, and gasped slightly. She looked so fragile in the bed, hooked up to too many machines to name. Her chest was rising and falling methodically, due to the ventilator the doctors had put her on after the surgery. There was a thick bandage wrapped around her head, and cuts and bruises along her face and arms. Dr Fletcher was checking over Charlie's notes, and gave Briggs and Mike a warm smile.

"How is she?" Briggs asked.

"All things considered, she's doing well. As I explained to your friends earlier, the blood clot was successfully removed, but there is a slight swelling on Miss DeMarco's brain. Because of this, we have put her into a medically induced coma so that her body can focus solely on healing itself."

"But she'll make a full recovery?"

"With cases like this, it's take one take at a time. Focus on the fact that the surgery was successful, and she is responsive."

"Responsive?"

"Her brain activity is high, so we are certain that she should come out of the coma when the time is right. Miss DeMarco is young and healthy. These are all good signs."

"Thank you, for everything." Briggs said.

"You're welcome. I know that it might be hard for you to leave her, but I promise you that you'll be informed the minute there is any change." Dr Fletcher left the room once she was happy with Charlie's equipment, not wanting to intrude.

"Where are the others?" Briggs asked, noting the absence of the rest of the Graceland family.

"Jakes took Johnny and Paige home to get some rest as none of us got much sleep last night. I was told to take you back once we've seen Charlie."

"I got a good night's sleep, you don't need to take me back." Briggs lied.

"Couple of things, one, you've got massive circles under your eyes, there's no way you got a decent sleep last night. Two, DJ's gonna kill me if I come home without you, and three, Charlie's in safe hands. You don't need to worry about her."

"How can I not? It's my fault that she's here in the first place!"

"This is not your fault Briggs." Before Mike could continue there was a knock on the door, and a nurse came into the room.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but there is a man waiting outside, who asked for Paul? He said it's urgent."

"I'll be out in a minute. Mike could you stay with her? I'll try and be quick." Briggs said, before stepping out into the hallway.

* * *

"Hi Coulson, what do you need?" Briggs greeted his boss, and was slightly puzzled about why he was here. He hoped they weren't going to put him on a new case.

"Briggs, I just came down to tell you that we have detained a man called Pete Leigh concerning the accident. He was the driver of the other car, and we wanted to make sure that this was indeed an accident and not an attempt on either your or Agent DeMarco's lives. Although it seems that he has no connection to either of you, it was discovered that he was three times over the legal drink limit when the accident occurred. He also was self medicating with strong painkillers. We handed him over to LAPD and they've charged him with GBH by way of dangerous driving. His trial is in four weeks."

Briggs took a minute to process the information before asking. "Has he's been locked up?"

"I'm sorry, but he has been granted bail."

"What? He almost kills Charlie because he was drunk driving and the guy is allowed to walk free!"

"There were strict conditions on his release. If he breaks them he'll be straight back in prison."

"Can't you pull some strings and get the guy locked up? Please sir."

"Since this isn't a FBI matter, the director said that there is nothing to be done. I'm sorry Paul. But since you were also in the accident, you have been granted medical leave. I'm afraid the others will have to return to there case loads."

"Thank you." Coulson knew that if it were any other situation Briggs would ignore being told he was on medical leave and keep working.

"You'll be reassessed in a couple of weeks, but until then enjoy your time off." Briggs and Coulson shook hands and Briggs went back into Charlie's room. Mike was sat in the chair next to Charlie's bed, one hand pressed into his cheek, his elbow resting on the bed.

"Who was it?" Mike asked when Briggs came back into the room.

"The boss. Told me some info about the accident, but I want to tell everyone together."

"Does that mean you're actually coming home for a bit?"

"Yeah. I couldn't leave you to the mercy of Crazy Jakes now could I?"

* * *

**Sorry that this is isn't that exciting, but it's necessary to move the plot along. Also I have practically no knowledge of brain injuries or the legal system in general apart from what I've seen on TV, so this isn't very accurate. My apologies if that annoys you.**

**Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the next chapter, hope you guys like it. Enjoy!**

3 weeks later

Briggs walked into Charlie's room after finally agreeing to go home for a few hours, to have a shower, shave, some decent food and sleep. He had pretty much set up camp in Charlie's room since the accident, and even though she was improving, he still didn't want to leave her for more than a couple of hours at a time. Everyone had tried to move their case loads around so that when Briggs agreed to be away from the hospital, someone was with Charlie in case something happened. Tonight it was Johnny and Paige's turn.

Paige was sitting next to Charlie's bed, with a bottle of nail polish in one hand and a determined look on her face. Johnny was sat the other side, half watching Paige and half watching the TV, trying to eat a taco carefully so he didn't get told off by one of the nurses for making a mess. Again.

"What are you doing?" Briggs asked looking a Paige.

"Johnny wanted to 'express his feminine side' and paint Charlie's nails, but he did such a shit job I'm re-doing them." On closer inspection, Briggs noticed that the nails on Charlie's left hand were painted perfectly, the deep purple applied carefully with even strokes. Her right hand however...

"0/10 Johnny, I think you painted more of her fingers than the nails themselves."

"It's hard man!" Johnny shouted to defend himself, but he only succeeded in spilling food onto his shirt.

"Johnny it looks like you dipped her fingers in ink!" Paige said, which Johnny replied with muttering something in Spanish under his breath.

After a couple of minutes in silences apart from the noise coming from the TV, Paige announced she had finished and was going to go to the canteen to get some food.

"Hey, I'll come with you." Johnny said as he finished his taco, throwing the wrapper in the bin.

"Johnny, how can you be hungry, you just ate."

"I just want some pudding, is that a crime? Briggs you want anything?"

"Just a coffee, thanks." Briggs said as they left, Paige squeezing his shoulder reassuringly on the way past. He pulled his chair as close to Charlie's bed as he could get, taking her hand in his.

"Hey Chuckie, hope you're feeling better. They took the bandage off your head today, that's quite a scar. Paige's sure that she can get your hair to cover it up though." To be able to get to the blood clot, the surgeons had to shave the side of Charlie's head. It was a bit of a shock seeing the scar after the bandage had been taken off.

"They say you're getting better, you can breathe on your own now, so I guess that's good. I must say, you do look better without that tube in your mouth." Briggs tried to force out a laugh, but it sounded fake in his ears.

"But it's not the same. I miss you, I really really miss you Charlie. I don't know if you can really hear me, I mean, the doctors say that your hearing is the last thing to go and the first to come back, but I'm not so sure. I've never heard of someone coming out of a coma and carrying on the conversation. Maybe they just tell us that so we don't feel so useless, so we feel like we're helping in some way. So we're not just waiting, waiting for something to happen, waiting for the miracle to happen, or for the nightmare to end. But... if there's a chance you can hear me, when you wake up, and you will wake up Charlie, promise me you won't bring any of this up. At least not in front of the guys."

Briggs let go of Charlie's hand for a minute, reaching up and brushing a loose curl off her face. He cradled her cheek carefully in his hand, gently running his thumb over the smooth skin on her cheek.

"I meant everything I said back in that crappy hotel room. There is no downside to you, Charlie. You're smart, independent, funny, beautiful. You always put others first, even if it means that you get hurt in the process. You care about everybody in the house as if they're your family, even when Mike's acting like a puppy, or DJ's in one of his moods or Paige and Johnny are fighting over the TV remote, you still manage to look out for them, keep them safe."

He took her hand in his again, and took a second to compose himself. Briggs could feel tears welling up in his eyes, but he didn't want to cry.

"I wish I could say I would do the same thing, but I already messed up didn't I? I couldn't keep you safe. If I had, you wouldn't be lying here, listening to me rambling. So please Charlie, please please don't leave us like this. We need you. I need you." Briggs squeezed Charlie's hand for what felt like the millionth time, praying that she would respond.

Imagine his shock when she did.

* * *

**Sorry it's slightly shorter and 90% Briggs/Charlie (Do they have a shipper name?) But I ship these guys SO FREAKIN' HARD, and this was result. **

**Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Who was bad and didn't update on Monday like she promised? *Raises hand* But I made it slightly longer for you guys! Enjoy!**

* * *

_"Please Chuckie, don't leave us like this. We need you. I need you." Briggs squeezed Charlie's hand for what felt like the millionth time, praying that she would respond._

_Imagine his shock when she did._

"Charlie, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand as hard as you can." Briggs said, not completely sure that he hadn't imagined Charlie squeezing his hand back. He had to be sure. Charlie's fingers curled around Briggs' hand, as her eyelids fluttered open. Her vision hazy for a few seconds before focusing on a Briggs' face.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." Briggs smiled. Charlie weakly smiled back but closed her eyes, the bright lights of the room making her head hurt. Briggs stood up and pressed the buzzer next to Charlie's bed, and Dr. Fletcher came into the room.

"Hello Charlie, I'm Dr Fletcher. Can you tell me where you are?"

Charlie looked around, and could make a pretty good guess from the glaring white walls, the fact she was wearing a gown, and the oxygen tubes in her nose.

"Hospital?" Charlie's mouth was dry and her voice came out in a harsh whisper from lack of use. Briggs poured her a glass of water which she took gratefully.

"Good. How are you feeling?" She asked, checking Charlie's vitals.

"Like someone's hit me over the head with a sledge hammer. What happened?"

"You were in a car crash, and suffered a severe head trauma, which caused a blood clot to form on your brain. You were taken into emergency surgery and the blood clot was successfully removed, but there was a small amount of brain swelling so you were put into a medically induced coma for a week to let the swelling go down."

"So I was out for a week?" Charlie asked.

"Three weeks. It takes people different amounts of time to come round after being under for so long, sometimes the body will keep you in that state naturally so all your energy can be focused on getting better."

Charlie nodded, but winced as the pounding in her head increased.

"Are you in pain?" Briggs asked

"My head hurts." Charlie admitted, closing her eyes again.

"I'll get you something for that." Dr Fletcher returned a minute later with some medication. Charlie didn't comment in the fact it wasn't morphine, she suspected Briggs had something to do with that.

"I'll need to run a CT scan to check that the swelling on your brain has gone down, is that okay?" Dr Fletcher asked after Charlie had taken the pills.

"Yeah, anything to get me outta here quicker." Charlie said. Briggs laughed quietly, remembering Charlie's previous refusals to stay in hospital.

"I guessing you don't like it here? I'm sorry, you'll be in for a couple more days at least." Charlie groaned, she hated hospitals. She had lost too many people in buildings like this, having to sit there and not be able to do anything about it. It must have been like that for Briggs and the others.

"I called down to radiology when I got your painkillers, and they said it would be at least an hour until they can fit you in, is there anything else you need?"

"No, but thank you." Charlie said, and Dr Fletcher left the room.

* * *

"So... three weeks huh?" Charlie said, looking up at Briggs.

"Yeah, that's some serious bed hair." Briggs joked, but Charlie could tell he was really shaken.

"Sorry if I scared you." Charlie whispered, as Briggs laced their fingers together. He smiled, she always had a way of knowing what he was thinking.

"It's okay, I know you didn't mean to."

"Was anyone else hurt in the crash?"

"Yeah, me. Somehow I walk away with cuts and bruises and you get brain surgery. Talk about hogging the limelight Chuck."

"What happened?"

"You don't remember?" Charlie shook her head.

"We had gone grocery shopping, and on the drive back we were going across a crossroad and some jackass jumps a red light and plows straight into the side of us. Turns out he was off his face on prescription pills, and drunk."

Charlie just listened, but didn't say anything. She tried as hard as she could to remember what had happened but she kept coming up with nothing.

"Do you really not remember what happened? The crash? The ambulance?"

"Not a thing. Why, what happened in the ambulance?"

"You went into cardiac arrest. Your heart stopped beating. I... I almost lost you Charlie." Briggs started crying, and Charlie wrapped her hands around his neck, pulling him into a hug. She couldn't believe that she'd nearly died.

"Sorry." Briggs muttered a few minutes later. He sat back out of Charlie's embrace, holding her hand again.

"It's okay, it must have been bad. It's been a while since I last saw you cry." Charlie wiped some of Briggs' tears away with the pad of her thumb.

"Yeah." Briggs' phone buzzed in his pocket.

"It's Johnny."

"What does it say?"

"'Can you tell Charlie that me and Paige want to see her when you two have finished making out or whatever you kids do these days.' Dr Fletcher must have told them you're awake, they went to the canteen." Charlie laughed.

"Tell him they can come in."

"Really?"

"Yeah, just so I can hit him."

"There's the Charlie was all know and love." Briggs said, and quickly replied to Johnny text.

* * *

Charlie jumped slightly when the door swung open a minute later, and Paige and Johnny came into the room. Briggs left his seat, letting both Johnny and Paige hug Charlie. Paige sat in the chair that was previously occupied by Briggs and Johnny perched on the edge of the bed.

"I'll give you guys a minute." Briggs said, heading back into the hallway.

"Damn girl, thought you were a goner for a minute there." Johnny teased, but Charlie could see that he was genuinely worried.

"Can't get rid of me that easily." She smiled, then winced slightly.

"Are you okay?" Paige asked, and Charlie instantly brushed it off.

"Yeah, my head hurts a bit. The doc gave me something before you guys came in, it'll probably kick in a minute. Where are the others?"

"Not here yet, we couldn't all get time off together so we took shifts, but I text Jakes after we knew you were awake, so they're on there way." Johnny said.

"Now, how you feeling? And don't bullshit us." Paige said.

"Honestly? Tired, and kinda scared that I've lost three weeks of my life. How's Briggs been holding up?"

"Hardly left the hospital. We had to force him home every couple of days." Johnny said.

"Mostly when he started to stink out the room." Paige added. Charlie laughed, but was slightly surprised at his reluctance to leave her.

* * *

Briggs waited outside Charlie's room, leaning against the wall. Even though he wanted to be with Charlie, he knew that Johnny and Paige needed time with her. He looked up when he saw Mike and Jakes coming down the corridor.

"How is she?" Mike asked.

"She's awake, and seems alright. Dr Fletcher wants to run some tests to be sure, but she should be home in a couple of days."

"You really think she'll last that long?" Jakes asked, and Mike was surprised when Briggs laughed.

"She will if I'm there, I'm not letting her escape this time."

"What are you guys talking about?" Mike asked.

"Charlie and hospitals don't mix well. Two years ago, she caught pneumonia after going midnight swimming with Johnny. Refused to go the doctor, saying it was just a cold, so Briggs had to practically carry her in here. She's instantly admitted and put on antibiotics, but two days later, discharged herself and somehow made it back home before any of us realised."

"You're kidding."

"No word of a lie."

"Thinking about it, that does seem like Charlie." Mike said, and before Briggs or Jakes could say anything else, Johnny's head came poking out of the door.

"Thought we heard you guys. You know you can come in, right?" Johnny said, pulling the door open. Briggs came in first, automatically taking the seat closest to Charlie. Paige (who deliberately moved so he could sit there) just smiled. Jakes came in next, with Johnny and Mike bringing up the rear.

"How you doing Mama?" Jakes asked, kissing Charlie on the forehead and giving her a hug.

"I'm doing okay." Jakes pulled away and Mike stepped forward, but stopped when a wave of panic flashed over Charlie's face.

"Who are you?"

* * *

***Pokes head from behind barricade* I'm. So. Sorry. Please please don't kill me. When I first had this idea I was like, no that's too evil, but then I wrote it.**

**And I kinda like it. **

**Please review!**


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